Step Back to Charge Forward
The end of summer and start of school often marks a new year for church ministry too. While your missions program may not officially celebrate a new beginning in September, why not take this opportunity to step back and muster excitement to move forward aggressively?
Here are some questions to get started:
1. What unique opportunity will we have in the coming year? There is almost always some event or shift (in your church, your community, or the world) that offers your missions team a chance to do something fresh.
2. If we were beginning missions from scratch in our church, what would we create first? This is a great question to discuss with some twentysomethings or thirtysomethings in your congregation. Don’t let the “things we’ve always done” bog you down. Shaking things up a bit will show you what’s really effective.
3. What is the biggest obstacle we face in missions in our church? Brainstorm two-to-three new solutions to experiment with. Need ideas? Contact someone in another church to see what they do, or ask a missions mobilizer for suggestions. Maybe this is the year to clear this hurdle and leave it behind you!
4. Consider internal or external partnerships. Is there a ministry in your church you could collaborate with in some way that benefits you both? How could missions and your recovery ministry work together? What if you joined forces with the junior high department this year? What could missions and the worship team do together? Brainstorming with other leaders can be fun and eye-opening!
Or could you partner with another church? Maybe a congregationnearby, or perhaps a church one of your missionaries is planting on the other side of the globe? Could you partner with an immigrant church in your region? Why not at least discuss the possibilities?!
Feeling motivated? Use this new season to step back so missions at your church can charge forward!
Share your ideas here.
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Blog to go with “I Wish My Church Understood”
The Flip Side: Unspoken Church Struggles
The August 2015[EJL1] issue of Postings uncovers mistakes or miscommunication some—but certainly not all—churches are guilty of. Here’s the flipside of the picture: four usually-unspoken struggles from somechurches about some missionaries.
1. Unspoken church struggle:“You seem to live at a higher economic level than many of us here who sacrifice to support you.”
Missionaries: While it may be easy for you to focus on church members who seem to be materialistic, it is crucial to remember that others may truly be sacrificing in order to support you. Be careful not to come across as entitled to a certain lifestyle.Examples: If a trip home for vacation is underwritten by family members, you may want to share that fact in your update. When your church leaders visit the field, discuss openly the lifestyle decisions you have made. Are they supportive?
2. Unspoken church struggle: “You are very critical of changes in our church ministry, but we don’t feel you bothered to take the time to understand why they have changed.”
Missionaries: If you are struggling with the changes you see in your church after being gone for a term, sit down with your pastor or church leader and ask them to explain. Engage your cross-cultural skills to understand the shifting context.
3. Unspoken church struggle:“Sometimes it feels like you only want our money.”
Missionaries: Ouch! Yes, you need financial support to get to/stay on the field, but there’s so much more to partnership. How can you demonstrate that you value churches’ involvement in non-monetary ways?
4. Unspoken church struggle:“We understand that you are disappointed about not having more up-front time, but the last missionary who was here did such a poor job of communicating that our missions time has been restricted.
Missionaries: You may find this very unfair, but sadly, sometimes it is true. First, remember that the quality of your presentation will impact those who follow you. Second, concentrate on presenting with excellence, regardless of how much time you are given. If you only have three minutes, make it the best three minutes possible. If you aren’t sure what that should look like, get a coach to help you prepare.
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The Power of Visuals
Hannah—I saved each of these illustrations below as a picture in the blog folder. They translate as .PNG files, so I hope they will upload okay for you to the website.
Here are three types of visuals that you can use to communicate with your congregation in memorable ways. How could you creatively use them in your church for greatest impact?
VIDEOS
In 2 ½ minutes watch all the major religions spread around the world. Could you run this video on a loop on a TV in your foyer? Show before the beginning of a worship service? Upload to your church’s website or Twitter feed? Use as an introduction to a Bible study? What questions would you ask to stimulate discussion?
POSTERS
GMI publishes a free, downloadable poster each month presenting research visually. Here’s one on sharing Christ with Muslims.
Could you use a poster like this to convey a lot of information in an easy-to-grasp style without being too superficial? Could you post this on a bulletin board in a place where it would not offend a Muslim who might be walking through your building? Could you include in your missions-conference brochure? What other creative ways could you think of to use it?
POWER POINTS
Occasionally you will also find PowerPoint presentations that are available for download and use. Here is one example that introduces the concept of Kingdom professionals or tentmakers:
Could you use it with your college or young-adult group to challenge them to consider taking their profession abroad? Or use parts of it to promote a workshop or conference on this subject? What other ways could you use the presentation or get ideas to use in other ways?
Have you developed or discovered other visuals that would be useful for church missions teams? Share them here.
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[EJL1]Add link when we have title finalized.